


Five times Anders should have known better and one time he did

by GrievousCollection



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: Canon Dialogue, Fix-It, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Rejection, all of hawke's dialog is canon, anders has some different dialog though, canon hawke, fix-it of the writing, sex shaming, vague mention of STIs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:54:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 666
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23433481
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrievousCollection/pseuds/GrievousCollection
Summary: Anders should really have known better than to develop feelings for such an asshole as Hawke. But it’s not too late to assert his standards.
Relationships: Anders/Male Hawke
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Five times Anders should have known better and one time he did

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve realized lately that whenever I write Hawke-sympathetic content, I always change something about them. So I challenged myself to write a fic using only canon dialog for Hawke. Turns out, they’re kind of an asshole, political stances aside

1

“So, let me guess,” Hawke had said. “This is the part where you tell me you’re an abomination?”

That should have been the first warning sign.

Anders took it in stride, however, gently assuring the stranger that Justice was not a demon, but a good spirit embodying virtue. He came to understand that the comment had not been malicious. This guy just had a sarcastic personality.

In… most cases, anyway.

2

“We hadn’t been together for a long time,” Anders confided in the relative stranger, who felt less like a stranger if only for having witnessed him killing his first love rather than let him live as a Tranquil. “But still, it hurt.”

“Oh!” Hawke gasped, turning away. “Now there’s an image I didn’t need.”

Anders stared, shocked at the intensity of that reaction. “Well, pardon me!”

3

Even if Hawke was a complete jerk, at least his friends were okay. Mostly. One, Anders even recognized.

“You used to really like that girl with the griffon tattoos, right?” he asked her. “What was her name?”

“The Lay Warden?” supplied Isabela.

“That’s right! I think you were there the night I-”

“Oh!” she gasped, remembering. “Were you the runaway mage who could do that electricity thing? That was nice…”

Hawke cleared his throat from the front of the group. “Please stop talking,” he hissed at both of them. “Now.”

So Hawke was kind of a jerk. But he wasn’t bad-looking, everyone seemed to like him well enough, and Anders had had worse. So there was no harm in sticking around, was there?

4

As it turned out, there was.

When Anders had first arrived in Kirkwall, he had heard rumors of how uniquely terrible the situation was with its Circle. Now, three years later, he not only knew those rumors to be true, but the situation had gotten worse. And worse yet, none of the people whose voices would be heard, the upper class, seemed to care.

Well, there was one member of the upper class who gave him the time of day. At least when Anders was around. But when he wasn’t…

He was passing through Hawke’s mansion to access the tunnel to Darktown when he overheard it. The singular proof of how little even a noble who had “earned” his place cared for the greater good.

“Hey, look!” Hawke said to himself. “A partially burned page from Anders’ manifesto.”

5

And that would be bad enough. But it took a journey into the Fade for Anders to realize just how little Hawke actually respected him as a person.

Because the truth was, he and Justice were one. A package deal. One could not pretend respect for one while sneering with distaste at the other. But when Anders spoke in the Fade with the spirit’s voice, that was Hawke’s exact response.

“We’re just here for a visit,” he had said, “so don’t get too homesick.”

+1

So when Hawke came to him with a romantic overture, Anders almost resisted. Should have resisted. But if he had, he would not be having this conversation.

“Justice does not approve of my former obsession with you,” he began. “He said you were a distraction.”

Hawke seemed not to notice the past tense. “So he’s kind of… an unwilling participant in our threesome?”

Anders glared at him. “Please don’t call it that,” he said. “I’m not actually here to sleep with you. Justice and I have talked, and, well…” He took a deep breath. “I’m not interested in you. I can afford to have standards now, and you haven’t exactly been the most welcoming to me.”

Hawke blinked in confusion.

“Besides,” Anders continued, “Fenris was leaving right as I came in. And not only that, but one of our other friends - whose name I will not disclose to maintain patient confidentiality - told me earlier exactly what she caught from you.”

All in all, Anders walked away feeling as though he had dodged one of Varric’s crossbow bolts.

(He had.)

**Author's Note:**

> It should be known that only two of these dick moves come from actually clicking a dialog wheel. One of them comes from the “purple” personality, one comes from interacting with the fireplace, and one of them is a completely unprompted bit of party banter.


End file.
